Bronson Canyon

Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California that has become known as a filming location for a large number of movies and TV shows, especially westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to the present. Its craggy and remote-looking setting, but easily accessible location, has made it a prime choice for filmmakers, particularly of low-budget films, who want to place scenes in a lonely wilderness.

Location and history[edit]

Bronson Canyon is located in the southwest section of Griffith Park and is thus easily accessible from Hollywood. From Franklin Avenue, one can go north on Canyon Drive until the road ends for vehicular traffic at the parking lot for "Camp Hollywoodland". At the right (east) side of the road is a small concrete bridge painted red. One can cross the bridge and walk around the vehicle barrier, and follow the unpaved road, keeping left, for the short walk into Bronson Canyon.

In 1903, the Union Rock Company founded a quarry, originally named Brush Canyon, for excavation of crushed rock used in the construction of city streets. The quarry ceased operation in the late 1920s, leaving the caves behind. The caves became known as the Bronson Caves after a nearby street, giving the area its more popular name of Bronson Canyon (the same street indirectly provided the stage name for actor Charles Bronson, who chose the name of the Bronson Gate at Hollywood's Paramount Studios, which in turn derived its name from Bronson Street).

Scenes of the main cave entrance are normally filmed in a manner that shows the entrance at an angle. This is because the cave is actually a very short tunnel through the hill, with the rear opening easily visible in a direct shot. The most well known appearance of the tunnel entrance is likely as the entrance to the Batcave in the Batman television series of the 1960s.

Partial list of novels set in Bronson Canyon[edit]

Video Games featuring Bronson Canyon[edit]

In the 2005 video game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, the custom character created by the player meets Andrew Reynolds to convince him to being featured in a video in order to save the fictional skate ranch, Green Pipes Point. The character is taken together with Reynolds to Bronson Canyon where the player has to do a 50000 point combo into the cave which takes the custom character launching off the Hollywood Sign, going off with pyrotechnics. After this stunt, Reynolds agrees to do the video.

See also[edit]

Vasquez Rocks, another Los Angeles landmark used as a set in numerous films and television episodes

References[edit]

^Rothel, David (1991). Ambush of Ghosts: A Guide to Great Western Film Locations. Madison, WI, USA: Empire Publishing. pp. 39, 150–5. ISBN978-0-944019-10-8.